Vermont drivers feel the squeeze at gas pumps

May 19, 2011

Susan Clark of Rutland buys $20 of gas in Montpelier after work Wednesday before heading to her parent’s house in Barre. Clark stays with her parent’s during the week to cut down her commute and save on gas but returns home in Rutland on weekends. / EMILY McMANAMY, Free Press

Written by

Dan D’Ambrosio, Free Press Staff Writer

More online

Find the cheapest gas prices in the Burlington area and the rest of Vermont with an interactive map at Vermont gas prices.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Gas prices in Burlington are down a penny or two this week in some locations, but numerous northwest Vermont residents are still feeling the pain, an informal survey on Church Street in Burlington shows.

Tory Torres lives in Burlington and works at Fletcher Allen Health Care. She takes the bus to work whenever she can because the hospital subsidizes her fare. She said she and her husband have a Honda minivan and are filling the tank only half full now. Even that costs them about $40, she said.

“The more expensive gas gets, the less I drive,” Torres said. “It always seems bad, then in another year it gets worse because our salaries don’t increase at the same rate as gas prices. I keep telling my husband to sell the van.”

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, said motorists might actually catch a break by Memorial Day weekend. He said prices in Vermont — currently about $3.95 a gallon — could drop by 7 cents to 15 cents a gallon by the warm-weather season’s first three-day weekend.

“Prices will go down a bit,” DeHaan said. “Refineries are back open after doing maintenance over the winter and early spring, and are beginning to boost production.”

The market is also “breathing a sigh of relief,” DeHaan said, because the flooding along the Mississippi River does not appear to be affecting the many refineries along its banks.

“Supply has begun to increase, and the thinking is as we progress into the spring, the supply will continue to increase,” DeHaan said. “For the majority of the summer, prices will be between $3.50 and $4 per gallon.”

Brian and Kara O’Connor were visiting Vermont from Baltimore with their son Reid, soon to be 2 years old.

“We decided not to drive up,” Kara O’Connor said of the family’s trip to Vermont.

Brian O’Connor said the couple figured it would spend $200 for gas to drive from Baltimore and back, and they were able to buy airplane tickets for a total of $260. The $60 difference was well worth the increased convenience, he said.

The couple used to put premium gas in Kara O’Connor’s car, but now have switched to regular.

Brian O’Connor, a plumber in a three-man company owned by his father-in-law, said the high prices have affected the business.

“It doesn’t matter what the prices are, I have to fill the truck up,” O’Connor said. “That affects the customers. I have to charge more if it costs me more to get to their house.”

Artiqua DuBois is a senior at Burlington High School and drives to school every day, she said. Her parents cover the cost of insurance for her car, but not the gas.

“Now that gas prices are going up, I pay more attention to where I’m getting my gas,” DuBois said. “You have to cut back on the nickels and dimes.”

DuBois said she and her friends are also cutting back on their driving in general, and sharing rides more often when they’re getting together after school and on weekends.

“Can you come get me this time and I’ll come get you next time?” she said of a typical conversation with friends. “Let’s bargain and see who can ride together.”